Make your new year’s resolution stick

Most new year’s resolutions fail before they reach July. Here’s how you can buck the trend.

Many people use the Christmas and new year break to spend time with family and friends, and perhaps indulge in one too many Christmas puddings. This holiday period (and perhaps the over-indulgence in sweet treats) often inspires people to assess their goals and accomplish new ones in the year ahead – what we call “new year’s resolutions”.Unfortunately, many of these resolutions barely last longer than the leftovers from Christmas lunch.

A 2014 survey conducted by researchers at the University of Scranton in the US found that 77 per cent of people stuck to their resolutions within the first week of setting them, but that figure dips to a disappointing 46 per cent after six months.

In my experience, many “resolutions” usually end up being unstructured, not very SMART (more on this later), and are near impossible to achieve once the calendar turns over.

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